-“What is Truth?”-

John 18-19

A famous Dutch museum just found out the hard way you have to be careful who you trust. Seems back in 1969, after the historic moon walk, a U.S. envoy gave the Dutch prime minister a piece of ‘moon rock.’ At least, that was the story at the time. They promptly insured it for a healthy chunk of change & proudly displayed their rarity amongst Rembrandts & other precious items. That was until recently when they found it to be a simple piece of petrified wood. Last account, there aren’t any trees on the moon. Yep, you can’t seem to trust anyone these days!

That’s pretty much what many of us feel. In a world trying to hawk all kinds of things from ‘prime land in Florida’ to other ‘for a limited time only’ offers, usually what’s ‘too good to be true’ really is. It makes it hard to know who to trust. A friend recently ended a several year battle with a university to finally get a class needed & graduate. Apparently an ‘adviser’ didn’t advise too well & he’s had to pay for that mistake.

There is a pervasive thought across the planet that says there is no ‘absolute’ truth. What’s ‘truth’ for you may or may not be ‘truth’ for me. While I agree what some people might call a ‘truth’ may simply be so much fantasy, fairy tale or fiction, there is absolute truth. Hey, gravity is still gravity no matter what you believe. Jump off a building & all the way down you can decry & disclaim the force of gravity, and if you live through it, the experience might otherwise help you understand that particular ‘absolute.’

Most of us have had ‘heart hurts’ from trusting someone when their ‘truth’ was not so much! It makes it hard to trust. I’ll admit it’s one thing to get shafted & burned on a financial deal, but when you’re talking about spiritual matters you definitely don’t want to get ‘burned’!

I regularly meet people who have been hurt by a church, a ‘Christian’ individual, or ‘religion.’ Their answer has been to write off all ‘religion’ or Christianity, as a whole, & have a go at life on their own. Gotta say, that’s a drastic solution that’s not a very good solution at all. If some yahoo has hurt you or a particular church has given your grief or otherwise disillusioned you, you will ultimately only be hurting yourself in swearing off God!

Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked.
John 18:37-38NLT

There is an individual in the account of the crucifixion that you may have heard about. He was faced with the question, ‘what is truth?’ His name was Pontius Pilate. If you research any you’ll find he was a Roman leader stationed at the occupied territory of Jerusalem. His job was to keep the peace in the province. Also, if you’ve done any research about Israel, you’ll find that a tall order at best. He was away from home & beleaguered with the political & religious infighting & fractions.
As he tried to keep the precarious balance, this new ‘prophet,’ Jesus, came along & really stirred up the pot. Pilate tried at first to pawn this Jesus off on the existing religious leaders & even one from the man’s own province. No go. As Rome’s leader over the area the situation fell into his lap.

I have no doubt that Pilate was weary of dealing with uprisings & bickering of the religious leaders. The Jewish had no particular love loss for their latest conquerors. Some accounts put Pilate on the outs with Rome & have him relegated to this foreign outpost with little room for mistakes . He was even enemies with the pagan religious leaders of the area.

Lest I paint a rosy picture that Pilate was some innocent man caught up in Jewish religion & politics, realize this: Pilate had a choice as to what to do with Jesus as do we all. The gospel of Matthew’s account even tells how his wife forewarned him not to have anything to do with ‘that innocent man.’ At his hand Jesus was ultimately put to death. This common distrust & denial of Jesus helped forge common ground with the political & religious leaders, pacifying them for a time & ensuring a small measure of peace.

Pilate faced a dilemma we all face: what is truth? How do I know what is truth? What do I do with truth? The very question Pilate asked was, “What is truth?” I suppose a better question would be, “Who is truth?”Jesus made a statement, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Across the globe are myriads of religions claiming ‘truth.’ Each promised they have the inside word on truth. They have the ticket to heaven. What makes Christianity any different? Why should anyone believe this ‘religious system’ over any other? While I could spend much time in arguing apologetics to you, that might be better suited for an individual, perhaps on-going, discussion. I’ll just say this, I’m betting my eternity on it! If I’m wrong, well, I’ve missed out on a few parties & denied myself some temporal pleasure. Then what’s eternity?! If I’m right, well, heaven will be really sweet.

Every one of us, like Pilate, will have to answer ‘what is truth?’ We’ll all have to decide what we’ll do with Jesus. As Pilate handed Jesus over to the religious leaders, who by the way said, “may his blood be on us and on our children’, he washed his hands of him. The symbolic gesture meant he was guilty of whatever fate became of the man & any repercussions that might follow. Not so tidy in reality. Historians say that Pilate went mad no long after this & spent the remainder of his days washing & wringing his hands.

Back to the question: “What is Truth?” Better yet, ‘Who is Truth?’ Simple answer is Jesus. My prayer is you know the truth about Jesus. I don’t claim to have all the answers but would love to talk with you & find answers together. I’m always open to pray with you & ask you return the favor.


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